Science & Technology News- Daily Digest: 2 Key Updates

1. Bone marrow cancer can be diagnosed effectively with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Bone marrow cancer (myelofibrosis) is a slowly evolving condition hallmarked by increased myeloid cells, and, in the case of primary myelofibrosis, an excessive number of large cells called megakaryocytes. The pathology is also characterised by structural abnormality of the bone marrow matrix, which at end-stage manifests in excessive deposition of reticulin fibres and cross-linked collagen in the bone marrow, suppression of normal blood cell development and bone marrow failure. Currently, the diagnosis is made through an invasive biopsy and histophatology.

2. Netherlands-based doctors have performed the first-ever brain implant on a 58-year-old woman paralysed by Lou Gehrig’s disease, enabling her to communicate in day-to-day life via a speech computer. The disease-caused nerve degeneration had left her with control only over her eyes. The implant enabled her to control the computer using brain signals, spelling out messages at two letters per minute.